Hasta La Gadget!

AT&T’s still keeping us in the dark about a hard date for the Galaxy Note II’s release, but at least we know it’s real and on the way. Confirmed to ship sometime this holiday season, this variant of Samsung’s phablet refresh sports a 5.5-inch 1,280 x 720 HD Super AMOLED display, 1.6GHz quad-core Exynos processor, 8-megapixel rear camera capable of 1080p video capture, beefy 3,100mAh battery and, of course, a refined S-Pen. It’s nigh unchanged from both the global and Sprint models we’d gotten hands-on with previously; a trend the OEM sparked off with the release of the GS III earlier this year. And in a move that augurs well for those of you averse to branding, there’s no superfluous carrier logo blemishing its smooth white back.

If you thought the original Note was big and unwieldy, prepare to stretch your thumb even further up the display. Samsung added 0.2-inches to this update, while incorporating elements of its “famed” inspired by nature design that conspire to lend this handset a reassuring in-hand fit. On the lower right-hand side, you’ll find a convenient slot for the S-Pen which, when removed, triggers an action menu that can be customized to launch selected apps. A large physical home button rests just below the expansive 16:9 screen and is flanked by capacitive buttons for menu and back, while the front-facing camera resides up above and hardware keys for volume and power are placed on the left and right edges, respectively.

On the software front, you’re still looking at a TouchWizzed version of Android 4.1 Jelly Bean, as well as some carrier-specific apps that come pre-loaded, like My AT&T, CodeScanner, FamilyMap, Navigator and Ready2Go. As you might expect from its quad-core Exynos, performance was smooth… almost buttery smooth, but we’d be remiss if we didn’t mention a slight hesitancy between pulling out the S-Pen and the launch of that Smart Actions menu. Bear in mind, this is a pre-production model, so most of those kinks should be worked out by the time it launches this holiday season. Check out the video after the break.

Continue reading Samsung Galaxy Note II for AT&T hands-on: an S-Pen phablet with 4G LTE (update: video)

Filed under: Cellphones, Wireless, Mobile, Samsung, AT&T

Samsung Galaxy Note II for AT&T hands-on: an S-Pen phablet with 4G LTE (update: video) originally appeared on Engadget on Thu, 04 Oct 2012 17:40:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Surprise, surprise — well, not really. Nokia’s Lumia 920 and 820 will be making a splash stateside on AT&T’s lineup with the former as an exclusive. Like most of the carrier’s other announcements as of late, there’s no concrete ship date set for the devices outside of a November bow. As a refresher, the Lumia 920 is the undoubted Windows Phone 8 flagship here, bearing a 4.5-inch Pure Motion HD+ 1,280 x 768 display, 1.5GHz dual-core S4 CPU, 8-megapixel PureView camera with OIS and a 2,000mAH battery. While the line’s mid-ranger, the 820, reps the same chipset as it elder sibling, a 4.3-inch 800 x 480 ClearBlack OLED display and 8-megapixel Carl Zeiss camera. Both are set to launch with LTE radios in tow, with the 920 available in red, white, black, yellow and cyan and the 820 in a lone black hue. Stay tuned for official word on pricing and release. In the meantime, check out the PR below.

Continue reading Nokia Lumia 920 and 820 land stateside on AT&T’s 4G LTE network this November

Filed under: Cellphones, Wireless, Mobile, Nokia, AT&T

Nokia Lumia 920 and 820 land stateside on AT&T’s 4G LTE network this November originally appeared on Engadget on Thu, 04 Oct 2012 09:55:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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With the quad-core Qualcomm Snapdragon S4 processor under its belt and LG’s most advanced set of specifications surrounding it, the LG Optimus G will be bringing the heat to AT&T very, very soon – complete with 4G LTE. This device has appeared internationally already and we do have our own LG Optimus G hands-on experience ready for your perusal. This device has the 1.5GHz version of the Snapdragon S4 Pro – that’s quad-core – and 2GB of RAM ready for action.

Inside you’ll find 32GB of internal storage expandable up to 80GB with a microSD card slot that’ll allow up to a 48GB card – you’ll have to buy that separately, of course. This device is slightly different from the international version of the device in that it’s not working with the 13 megapixel camera on the back, here bringing an 8 megapixel shooter to the show. This camera does bring on some features that LG is still very proud of, of course, those including:

• Zero shutter lag
• Live Shot, to capture simultaneous video and still images
• Time Catch Shot, which takes the perfect shot even if the shutter was pressed at the wrong time.

This device has a 4.7-inch True HD IPS Plus display with Live Zooming. You’ll be able to zoom in up to give times while a video is being streamed – strange stuff, for certain. This device also has Dual Screen Dual Play for content sharing with other electronic devices like televisions while you continue to use your device however you like. It’s also got QSlide which allows you to text or browse the internet while you continue to watch a video – split it up!

You’ve got a 2100 mAh battery inside for extra-long battery life, this enhanced by the Snapdragon S4′s battery conservation powers, mind you, too. You’ll also be working with QuickMemo as it was with the LG Optimus Vu, this bringing on your ability to draw on screenshots you’ve just taken. These screenshots can instantly be shared as an attachment or as its own uniquely hosted URL-based image.

Again this device is not yet priced or dated on AT&T’s 4G LTE network – stay tuned for final details as they arrive! Also BONUS: Check our hands-on with the international version of this device, and make sure you NOTE that this is slightly different from the AT&T release we’re speaking of above.

AT&T LG Optimus G brings quad-core Snapdragon S4 to USA is written by Chris Burns & originally posted on SlashGear.
© 2005 – 2012, SlashGear. All right reserved.

If you’re thinking that T-Mobile will be grabbing one whole heck of a lot of LTE now that MetroPCS has joined the team, you’d be right – sort of. What the team has announced today is that should their merger work out, they’d be turning off MetroPCS’s 1XCDMA network by the end of 2015 with sharing occurring between them and T-Mobile amounting to at least 50Mhz of wireless spectrum in key cities across the USA. With the spectrum they share, T-Mobile and MetroPCS would begin rolling out a “20×20″ LTE network that’d be potentially twice as fast as Verizon’s network.

We’ve yet to see how exactly this sort of speed would be possible given the fact that that’d be up to four times as fast as MetroPCS’s own current LTE in most of the cities they’re currently in. Cities included in the combined network of T-Mobile and MetroPCS would be New York, Los Angeles, Dallas, Detroit, Boston, and San Francisco. This update would have MetroPCS getting rid of their 2G network, knocking its CDMA usage from 10Mhz down to 5Mhz and replacing that with LTE.

MetroPCS would replace the other 5Mhz CDMA block with HSPA+ then by 2015 – that’s fast speeds all around the block, as it were. The talk given by T-Mobile and MetroPCS today outlined how they’d like to work with an LTE network based entirely on the AWS “Band 4″ with their HSPA+ and GSM living in the PCS (1900Mhz) band. This would have GSM being the roaming band while AWS would keep their LTE devices speedy in the main cities covered by their service.

This merger will also make both companies into one larger group, but they’ll remain the number 4 network in the country regardless, still not quite catching up with the top three as far as spectrum and subscribers go. Have a peek at our recent line of posts on this merger in the timeline below to learn more if you’d like – big things in the mobile universe here in the USA, that’s for sure!

T-Mobile MetroPCS merger tips LTE rollout on AWS is written by Chris Burns & originally posted on SlashGear.
© 2005 – 2012, SlashGear. All right reserved.

When it rains, it pours. As if to clear the decks, Samsung has passed three devices through the FCC’s scrutiny at the same time. Two, the SPH-P500 and SCH-i915, are LTE-equipped tablets respectively headed to Sprint and Verizon with a dash of mystery; their label images imply a pair of Galaxy Tab 2 variants, but both have previously been spotted in as yet unverified benchmarks that allude to much faster Snapdragon S4 processors instead of the Tab 2’s TI chips. The SPH-L900’s dimensions and dual-mode support make for a safer bet, pointing to what’s likely the Galaxy Note II for Sprint. We’re less concerned with the hardware details so much as when everything ships — although we may get a clearer picture of the Sprint Galaxy Note II’s fate around October 24th, the tablets aren’t linked to any kind of public schedule, official or otherwise.

Update: Not long after Sprint’s Galaxy Note sequel arrived in the FCC, US Cellular’s flavor — the SCH-R950 — also made it through the federal approval process.

Filed under: Cellphones, Tablets, Mobile, Samsung

Samsung P500 and i915 tablets for Sprint and Verizon, Galaxy Note II for Sprint reach the FCC (update: Note II for US Cellular as well) originally appeared on Engadget on Tue, 02 Oct 2012 20:31:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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